


one on one (plus one)

by lovesaudade



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Single Parents, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, HyungHyuk Bingo, M/M, Pre-Relationship, alternate summary: everyone say thank you siwoo, but also say hi to jackson, but otherwise so soft and pure, other mx members are only mentioned, things get kinda sad for like 10 seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 05:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15723015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovesaudade/pseuds/lovesaudade
Summary: hyungwon likes report card day 'cause he gets to see how well his little siwoo does in school, not because he gets to talk to his son's favorite (charming, good-looking) teacher.





	one on one (plus one)

**Author's Note:**

> ( ~~supposedly~~ for the single parents square)
> 
> i knOW I KNOW. i missed almost the entirety of hh bingo, only submitting one fic on time :c didn't expect for work to get so busy during june AND july (and tbh, this month as well huhu) but i made a promise to myself that i will finish the bingo no matter how long it'll take me to do so. and the account did say that i can still add works even if the bingo is over, but i digress~ 
> 
> in my first entry, i mentioned "easter egg" in my end notes. did you guys find it? did you figure out that i was going to write about single parents after my pokemon square entry? ouo
> 
> not gonna make this longer than it should so... happy reading, my dears!! c:

“siwoo, sweetie! please be careful!”

the little boy, bundled up in a darling blue jacket and red scarf, pays no mind to the instruction. in fact, he squeals in a louder, higher pitch, as his short arms wave about to keep his balance on a concrete fence barricading some flower bushes. his stubby fingers graze over the leaves and petals every now and then, but never plucks anything from the shrubs.

shaking his head fondly, hyungwon continues to watch the child walk a few steps ahead of him, a cautious hand hovering by his back in case he stumbles. he silently hopes that he didn't pass down the genes of having atrociously lengthy limbs to his son when he grows up.

they were walking under a perfect morning; the early summer breeze freely dances with their hair. it wouldn’t have annoyed both hyungwon and siwoo, if it weren’t for this wind being the remnants of a chilly comfort before the heat washes over their town. the sun peaks behind a cluster of fluffy clouds, the kind that siwoo loves making stories out of when his dad spends his downtime with him. hyungwon loves every tale his child creates, despite some of them ending in gibberish when siwoo ends with an excited flair of words.

those stories are currently on hold due to the two’s appointment happening in a few minutes. judging from their pace, they might arrive later than hyungwon would’ve liked, as he didn’t want them to be stuck in a room for most of the day.

hyungwon accelerates his steps and gathers siwoo in his arms from behind, blowing on the child’s cheek to elicit that beautiful laugh he treasures. siwoo fidgets in the embrace before his dad readjusts his position, letting him wrap his arms around his father’s neck. hyungwon’s heart melts when his son buries his face on his shoulder, humming a made-up tune against the fabric of his long coat before crossing the street.

they make it just in time to their destination, a bright, red gate slowly creaking open by the building’s security guard to reveal a modest, but colorful kindergarten. some parents and their children shuffle in the moment the space permits them, but hyungwon stays back, knowing that little siwoo would be devastated if he couldn’t greet the security guard like always.

once they were alone by the sidewalk, siwoo is set down and immediately reaches for his father’s hand. the child could only grip three of his fingers, so hyungwon makes sure to curl them as much as he can and fit them snuggly in his son’s hold.

siwoo pulls his dad towards the gate. when they reach the guard, the young boy happily greets the him and holds up his free hand. the smile on his face mirrors hyungwon’s when the guard reciprocates a high-five—a splitting image of a young hyungwon all those years ago.

“good morning, siwoo! good morning, mr. chae!”

“jackson hyung.” hyungwon chuckles, “we’ve talked about this, you can call me by my name. and the fact that you’re older than me makes it even weirder that you’re being so formal.”

“a habit, i guess.” the guard shows a smile, friendly and sheepish. hyungwon accepts the answer easily.

“you’ve got a busy day ahead of you, huh?”

jackson nods, first greeting at an entering woman before at turning back to hyungwon. “report card days are truly one of the hectic days of the year. i guess it’s good that after this, we’re all getting a break.”

the brunet dad hums at the statement. this is the third and last report card day of the year; it’s the day that kicks off summer vacation for the children and staff. siwoo has been in such a great mood leading to this day, and hyungwon’s glad that he is. his son practically counted down the days before he starts his dance classes next week. at least he got to inherit that from his dad—the love of performing at such a young age.

although, summer break means that hyungwon will get busier. as a lifestyle writer and being the right-hand man of his boss, this means coming up with more feature articles and being sent off to do more fieldwork. more work means less time with his son, and while he is miserable with the situation, he knows that siwoo will be in good hands in hyunwoo and hoseok’s dance class, the latter being his ex-wife’s older brother.

hyungwon faintly shivers at the thought the woman, thankful that jackson and siwoo are currently engaged in a conversation, too distracted to notice the act. the whole relationship and marriage to felt like a scam, hyungwon remembers. from meeting her, to courting her for months even with her hard-to-get play at him, getting accepted by her wonderful family, bonding with them when they shared about her rebellious, troublemaking ways that only stopped when she met him, and finally being—what he thought at the time—the happiest man alive when she said “i do”. all those moments, even the imperfect ones, had the makings of creating a perfect life for hyungwon.

that is until, she got pregnant with siwoo.

hyungwon thought he was prepared to face _wifezilla_ for nine months, but something at the back of his mind tried to convince him that not all her yelling and picking fights were effects of her hormones going crazy.

and on the day when newborn siwoo was sleeping soundly in his crib at home for the first time, hyungwon couldn’t help but be a confused, sobbing mess when he watched his wife throw all her belongings in her bags and walked right out the door without another word.

no one saw her ever since, and not even her family could tell him why their daughter left. but even if she removed herself from the picture, her family still adored every little bit of hyungwon, promising him to aid in raising siwoo, his protests going in one ear and out the other.

she is nothing but a dull memory—a past he would rather forget. siwoo is his present, and forever will be, his future.

a tug on his coat’s sleeve takes him out from his thoughts, looking down at siwoo’s concerned face. that catches his attention entirely.

“what’s wrong, sweetie?” hyungwon asks, squatting down and be eye-level with his son.

“daddy is frowning. i don’t like it when daddy is sad.”

siwoo’s pout has hyungwon internally cooing before he pecks the child’s forehead. “i’m not sad, siwoo-ah. how could i be sad when i have the best son ever?”

hyungwon feels the purest form of happiness grow in his chest when siwoo’s eyes light up at his words. “really?”

he gets an armful of the child after he nods, ruffling his siwoo’s short hair while he leaves smacks of kisses on his father’s face.

“I love you! daddy is the best daddy ever!”

hyungwon simply hugs his son closer, truly his present and future.

carrying siwoo yet again, hyungwon bids jackson goodbye with a smile before sauntering towards his son’s classroom.

once inside, hyungwon waits for siwoo to remove his jacket and scarf—on his own, the single dad proudly adds—before letting him go where the other children are in the play area. he shrugs his coat off as well and places their garments at its proper place before writing his name on the board to ensure his slot for the queue.

he takes a free seat near the bookshelves under an open window, close enough to keep an eye on siwoo while he’s busy finishing a puzzle with his friends. there is already a good number of parents in the classroom, but at least it wasn’t completely full. hyungwon couldn’t really handle waiting for long periods of time.

while waiting for siwoo’s teachers to arrive, hyungwon pulls out his phone and busies himself with work, replying to e-mails and reviewing an article his intern sent him. whilst the kid has issues with her flow of writing, her piece on budget traveling in seoul has personality, which hyungwon appreciates.

after sending his comments, a series of footsteps echo in the room. the idle chatter among parents die down at the sound and hyungwon takes it as a sign to pocket his phone, raising his head while he’s at it.

at the front of the classroom stands three males, each scanning the room full of parents. oddly enough, hyungwon finds himself quietly staring at them just like the rest of the parents. a second after, the one in the middle meets his eyes and apparently decides to break the silence right then and there.

“dear parents, i know we’re your children’s teachers. but please realize that we won’t scold you when you’re talking in this classroom.”

hyungwon chuckles along with his fellow parents at the playful words. however, it is important to point out that he is the only one that has pink dusting his cheeks. he might have married a woman once, but that didn’t stop his flaming bisexual self to get flustered from his son’s teacher—a gorgeous one at that.

the three teachers casually make their way towards their respective desks, and hyungwon’s eyes follow the good-looking, silver blond-haired teacher sitting by the one in between the edge of the blackboard and the door. suddenly, hyungwon doesn’t mind waiting for an eternity to talk with him, who cares if it wasn’t the first time he did so.

lee minhyuk, from hyungwon’s knowledge, is siwoo’s favorite teacher. the little boy loves all his teachers, but he is most fond of the oldest one. among siwoo’s stories of teacher kihyun always helping him during their english lessons and teacher changkyun being fun but careful during lunch time, hyungwon can’t deny feeling thankful and a little giddy whenever his son talks about teacher minhyuk being all kinds of amazing with siwoo.

teacher minhyuk who lets siwoo hold his hand so that the boy could fall asleep at naptime, who snuggles siwoo on his chest when the child accidentally stepped on a lego with his bare feet, and who never leaves siwoo’s side when he has one of those days of missing his dad too much.

and only when hyungwon was finally able to put a face with the name, during the first report card day of the school year, did he let himself completely let himself feel _something_ for the man. a _thing_ he only felt with his ex-wife when he first met her.

hyungwon tries not to get his hopes too high that he’ll get the chance to talk to minhyuk again, unlike the past two experiences. luck may or may not be on his side this time around.

he pays little notice at each parent gets up to a teacher’s desk when their name gets called, some looking way more nervous than they should, as if the teachers are going to talk about their assessment on them and _not_ on their kids. hyungwon politely tries to hide the scoff threatening to leave his lips at this woman who is near tears when she gets to kihyun’s desk. then again, kihyun has a look that doesn’t really scream _your daughter is doing wonderfully!_ on his sharp features.

“mr. chae! you’re next, mr. chae!”

 _damn_ , if minhyuk’s voice didn’t have hyungwon’s heart do a ton of flips and tricks in his chest, then the teacher’s stunningly bright smile did.

the single dad advances toward the teacher’s desk with as much grace as he possibly can, concealing how weak his legs are from that one grin. he quietly shoots a quick prayer of thanks when he gets to the chair safe and sound, no humiliating mishaps whatsoever.

“good morning, mr. chae!” minhyuk first says with a twinkle in his voice, shaking hyungwon’s hand. “i hope your day is going well.”

“well, it depends on how this talk will turn out.”

and hyungwon realizes _a_ _second too late_ that his words sound akin to flirting. but before mortification embodies him, minhyuk’s grin turns—dare hyungwon thinks it—a little cheekier at the line.

“that indeed, mr. chae.” the light-haired teacher responds, fingers deftly filing through a folder on his desk before pulling out two sheets of paper. “hmm, chae siwoo. generally, he’s a well-behaved child. always smiling, though gets a little shy when the classroom gets noisy or when he gets asked to recite. his grades are doing well, too, but i noticed that he slipped a bit with math.”

hyungwon flinches. that’s on his shoulders, since he’s not really well-versed at the subject in the first place. he tries to help with siwoo in all his assignments but math is something he’s having difficulties explaining concepts, no matter how basic, to his child.

“i apologize for that.” the dark-haired father starts, “we’ll do our best next year.”

“no need to worry about that, mr. chae.” minhyuk eyes soften, and maybe hyungwon’s heart as well. “us teachers can’t really expect all children to be good in every subject, we consider their efforts and will to learn, too. and we see both in siwoo.”

hyungwon’s shoulders visibly relax. “that’s good to hear.”

“between you and i, mr. chae,” hyungwon’s inner gay sings in excitement _clearly_ at the wrong time, but he hides it well, “i thought that siwoo would be more into reading and writing, seeing as that his father is doing splendidly in that field.”

the single dad had no chance of fighting the creeping, warm sensation along his neck. “please, mr. lee, i’m not—”

“you may call me minhyuk!” he corrects with such joy, probably from being surrounded by kids five days a week. “i am a really big fan of your work, both in print and online. jooheon, a friend who i share an apartment with, thinks i’m overworking myself with things for school but i really just binge-read your articles.”

“well, i, uh,” hyungwon stammers, not so used to having someone share so much while praising him, much less have a fan of his works, “do you have a favorite, minhyuk?”

“that’s hard since i have a lot!” the teacher immediately answers, “but i guess it would have to be the one about experiencing different forms of love—eros and agape.”

that tugs something in hyungwon’s chest. objectively, that’s one of his personal favorites, too. he remembers the inspiration he drew from his rawest emotions, coming from his failed marriage and his dedication to his son.

“it was different from your usual pieces, mr. chae.” minhyuk goes on when the other stayed silent. “it made me want to just love someone in _that_ way, you know?” he finishes lightheartedly.

“it’s the best, most incredible feeling.” hyungwon finally utters.

“you really love your son, don’t you, mr. chae? he is very blessed to have you.”

“more like the other way around, i’m so blessed to have him as a son. he makes life less difficult, especially when you’re a single dad, you know?”

of course he wouldn’t know, hyungwon chastises himself, but he finds himself smiling like a love-sick fool when minhyuk replies, “you’re doing amazing with him, mr. chae.”

when minhyuk pats comfortingly the hyungwon’s hand resting atop the desk, the latter just couldn’t resist. “please, call me hyungwon.”

the teacher’s smile changes into something warmer, and hyungwon kind of falls more in love with it and with him.

much to the single dad’s disappointment, minhyuk releases his hand. “well, i apologize for fanboying, i unnecessarily took most of your time.”

“it’s no trouble at all. it’s easy to talk with you, minhyuk.” and before he chickens out, hyungwon adds, “not just about siwoo, too.”

“it’s funny since you and i are both here for him.”

hyungwon understands what minhyuk is saying. chuckles softly at it, too. but he also catches the underlying message of the teacher’s words. he is eternally grateful.

“speaking of your son,” minhyuk snaps his fingers, causing hyungwon to blink in confusion. “i mentioned about his slight problem with math, right? if you’re open to it, maybe you would like me to tutor him over the summer break? my rates aren’t too expensive, if you’re worried about that.”

money really isn’t a problem for hyungwon, but still appreciates the sentiment. “i’d have to talk with siwoo about it, but it sounds like a good idea. how flexible are your rates and schedules, minhyuk?”

a ghost of a smirk appears on minhyuk’s lips. hyungwon couldn’t miss it even if he tried. “flexible enough, hyungwon.”

“gr-great! i’ll let you know soon.”

at the most opportune time, siwoo comes running towards the two adults before he climbs on his father’s lap. “daddy! daddy!”

“hi, sweetie.” hyungwon pats down his son’s hair, a little unruly from all the playing. “teacher minhyuk and i just finished, you ready to go home?”

the young boy nods as his two arms wrap around hyungwon’s neck. “can we get burger king for lunch?”

“we are a mcdonald’s-loving family in our household, but okay.” hyungwon jests.

minhyuk mutters a “great choice, siwoo-ah.” behind his hand before clearing his throat. “here is siwoo’s report card as well as a second copy. kindly let me know if you’ll be availing my tutoring services."

the single dad retrieves the two cards before letting siwoo take a hold of them. “i’ll be in touch as soon as possible.” he then turns to his son, adjusting him in his embrace. “say good bye now, siwoo-ah.”

“bye bye, dad!” siwoo giggles.

hyungwon is about to laugh at his son’s joke of saying goodbye to him first, until minhyuk speaks up in a panic. “si-siwoo!”

at a loss, hyungwon looks over to the teacher and is intrigued at finding a shocked, embarrassed expression upon his face. he raises an eyebrow but minhyuk looks determined to not make any eye contact.

“siwoo-ah, i told you that you can only call me that during break times, or when you miss your daddy.” the bright-haired man whispers, but hyungwon hears every word of it.

“but it is break time! there are no more classes during summer break.”

the kid is _correct_ , logic unflawed. hyungwon lets a smirk of his own appear on his lips as minhyuk’s cheeks start to redden. the single dad wants to ask but ultimately decides that he can let this slide. _for now._

“thank you again, minhyuk.” he states as if _that_ didn’t happen.

“i—uh, thank you as well, mr.chae—ah, hyungwon. s—see you next year, siwoo!”

 _cute, really cute._ with a grin, hyungwon stands before leaving the room with his son. an affectionate warmth spreads throughout his chest.

when the father and son are a couple of blocks away from the school, siwoo suddenly pouts at hyungwon. “daddy, what do these numbers mean?”

the dark-haired man analyzes what his son is referring to, gaze landing on numbers where the usual letter grades are located on the secondy copy of the report card. after scanning through them a couple more times, hyungwon abruptly laughs, figuring out what the numbers stand for. _a phone number._

“siwoo-ah,” hyungwon coos, “how would like it if you’ll get to see teacher minhyuk more often?”

the child purses his lips in thought, before gasping aloud. “will daddy make dad my _real_ dad?”

hyungwon chortles, answering his son’s innocent question with a kiss on his cheek before taking him to his preferred fast-food restaurant.

siwoo _is_ his present and future. but hyungwon wouldn’t mind if he’ll add one more guy in that equation. maybe sooner than he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> as you can see, i have no knowledge at how the south korean educational system works nor do i know what their schools look like despite the numerous depictions of them in variety shows and k-dramas.
> 
> and i left another easter egg!! it's so painfully obvious that calling it an easter egg is stupid on my part HAHAHA (comment down below what you think it is, i would love to see if you figured it out in this fic hehe)
> 
> kudos, comments, and constructive criticisms are welcomed and appreciated! you may also reach me via twitter: @_kihyunghyuk. thank you!


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